Piano string-plate.



No. 847,889.. PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907'.

W. L. BJUR.

PIAN() STRING PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED 001211, 1906.

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Specification of''ietters Patent.

Patented March 19, 1907.

Application filed October 11,1906, Serial No. 388,354.

To @ZZ whom/ t may concern:

Beit known that l, WILLIAM L. Bann, tof the city of New York, State of New York,

`have invented a certain new and useful improvement in Piano String-Plates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and vuse the same. l

Early in the history of the manufacture of modern pianos it became the practice to cast,

the name of the ymanmfacturer into the stringplate of the instrument. In upright pianos,

the type to.which my invention especially relates, the manufacturerls name was cast in the upper right-hand corner, so that it would be in plain view above the piano-action.

lhis practice has been uniformly followed 1n the art to the present day. However, it has in. recent years become the frequent practice for a manufacturer to construct.

pianos for a number of commercial houses engaved principally or solely in the business of selling pianos, and since every such house desires its own distinctive naine on the stringplates of the pianos handled by it it may be readily seen that the'manufacturer to fill orders promptly must carry in stock a great number of string-plates differing only in the name cast thereon, a condition of 'affairs lwi'densome to the manufacture in respect to outlay of capital, cost of handling, and expense of storage.

It is therefore the underlying object of my invention toe'l'lect some improvement in the piano-manufacturing art by means of winch. the difficulty referred to above may be overcome. With this end in view l form the string-plate witlian oblique upper edge at its right-hand side, which'follows approximately the course of the top row of tuningpins at the right-hand side of the plate'. The name-plate I cast yor otherwise form separate from the string-plate, and l shape the name-plate with an oblique lower edge running from the right-hand end of the n am eplate leftward and upward and meeting the top edge at an acute angle or point.` This naine-plate is arranged to its lower edge over the obli ue upperedge of 'the stringplate and to e bolted 'to the frame of the piano independently of the string-plate. The name-plate thus arranged conceals the string-plate fastenings at the oblique upper edgeA of the sainetand being drawn iirmly back against the string-plate assists in holding the same in place.

My invention enables a manufacturer to make all of the string-plates uniform and to apply any desired namelate to the stringplate at will.y Further, t e peculiar relative arrangement of the string and name plates,"

vlarticularly the bolting of the naine-plate over the string-plate, enables me to attain the' resultdesired. without destroying the impression of rthe conventional integral string-plate and at the same time to cause the name-plate to exert a considerable ell'ort toward holding the string-plate properly in position.

itolei ence is now had to the accompanying drawings, which. represent the preferred einbodim ent of my invention, and in which- Figure l is a view of my improved string-` plate standing alone. F ig. 2 is a view of the naine-plate; and Fig. Sis a front view of the upper part of the string-plate andaction of an upright piano, showing my iinprov'ementI in practical use and illustrating, among other things, the entire preservation of the conventional or usual appearance of such pianos.

As shown 'in Fig. l, the string-plate is of the usual or conventional construction, excepting that its upper edge@ at the rightha-nd side is cut downward obliquely approximately following the oblique sweep ofthe top row of tuning-pins at the right-hand side of the plate. The usual -inargin'al bead at the top of the plateis broken away, indicated at l) and li, for a distance equal to the length of such oblique edge (L. The string-plater is provided at its oblique edge d 'with a series of screw-holes c, which are adapted to receive screws for assisting in holding theI string-plate in position. It will be observed that'these changes which I effect in the string'- late do not inr any way affect the arrangement of the strings nor the assemblage of the string-plate in the piano. The string-plate is permitted to perform its usual functions unhampered and unrestrained by my invention.

The improved name-plate, shown in Fig. 3, has an upper edge d and right side edge eV at right angles to each other; but its lower edge f extends obliquely, sweeping from the right-hand edge c leftward and upward into the top edge dat an acute angle or point indicated at j". This oblique edge]- corresponds to the oblique edge al of the ICO string-plate, and the form of the naine-plate is such that -it may be arranged with the edge 7" overlapping the edge a and covering the screw-'holes c, while the edges d and e of the name-plate c register with the top and right-hand side edges of thestring-plate and give to the two elements combined-that is tov say, to the improved name and string plates-the appearance of thefusual stringplate in which the name of the manufacturer is cast as an integral part thereof.

The naine-plate, as shown in Fig. 3, has the name' of the manufacturer cast or otherwise produced thereon, and it is formed with a number, preferably three, bolt-holes g,.

which are adapted to receive the usual bolts fastened into the woodenY frame of the piano.

In assembling the parts of my invention the string-plate is placed against the back or frame -and-secured thereto in the usual manner, excepting that the usual bolts at the upper right-hand side ofthe string-'frame are dispensed with and screws or other fasten.- ings are 'fitted in the screw-holes c. (Shown in Fig. l.) The plate is strung and the various other 4parts of the instrument are assembled in the customary manner; After the string-plate is in position. the namelate, bearing the name of any desired dealper or other person, is placed over the upper righthand corner of the string-plate, the oblique edgef of the name-plate overlapping theedge a ofthe string-plate and covering the same as well as the screw-holes and the screws fitted therein. ties of the name-plate meet the marginal bead of the string-plate at the broken points b and I), hereinbefore named, and the whole has the appearance of an integral stringlate in which the name of the manufacturer' is cast. yThe fastening-bolts are then 'fitted through the openings g, with the result that the name-plate'is not only securely drawn up into place, but the pressure of the bolts is communicated through the name-plate to the string-plate., and thus an effectual retaining effort is exerted on the string-plate, It will be seen, therefore, that by means of my invention not only am I enabled to attain the desired advantageousy results incident to the use of a uniform string-plate irrespective of' the name which the piano is to bear, but I cause the improved name-plate to hide the fastening-screws fitted in the openings c to reinforce thc action of these screws and assist in holding the string-plate in position by laplping the edge f of the name-plate over'the edge a of the string-plate. As shown in Fig. 3, the bolts g, which pass through the openings g of the name-plate, are symmetrical with the bolts h which are tted in the lefthand upper edge of lthe string-plate, thusI givin uniformity of appearance' along the thestrng-pia'te. l f

top o n the practice of4 my invention a piano The right and left hand extremiser/,eee

manufacturer will make up the required number of string-plates uniformly of the construction shown in Fig. 2 without regard to thename which the piano is to bear. The manufacturer may, it Will'be observed from Fig. 3, even go to the length of completing the assemblage of the piano except for the name-plate. Hc may also keep in stock a` number of separate naine-plates, one for each of his various customers. Then upon receipt of an order for a piano of any specilic name it is only necessary to apply the desired name-plate. This, it will be seen, enables the manufacturer to fill his various orders promptly without necessitating his keeping in stock a large number of stringplates differing only in name. These advantages I attain without in any way sacrificing the tone or ldurabilityof the instrument, and what is of almost equal importance withoutV detracting from the conventional or usual appearance of the piano. This latter result is of importance, since any unusual appearance given-to a well-known article of commerce, particularly suoli an article as a piano, necessitates explanation in all cases and in some cases might defeat the sale ofthe article.

Having thus described the preferred ernbodiment of my invention, what I claim as new with-me, and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

' 1. In a piano, the combination of a stringplate, a fastening for the string-plate adjacent to its upper-edge, a name-plate sepalrate from thestring-plate, the name-plate having its lower edge overlapping the stringplate at -its upper edge, the name-plate covering and concealing said fastening of the string-plate and a fastening for holding the naine-plate in position, the name-plate by its engagement with the string-plate assisting in holding the latter in position.

2. In a piano, the combination of a stringplate'having at its upper right-hand portion an edge extending obliquely from an intermediate pointv at the top of the string-plate, l

downward and outward to the right-hand side edge thereof, said edge extending approximately parallel to the top row of tuning-pins of the string-plate and the stringplate having directly adjacent to said oblique edge a hole adapted to receive a fastening,` a string-plate fastening extending through said hole, a naine-plate having top and right-hand side edges at right angles to each other and. having an oblique lower ed e extendin from the right-hand side edge lettward and upward to.the top of the nameplate, the oblique edge of the name-platel matching and overlapping the oblique edge vof the string-plate to hide `the Vsaid fastening extending through the said `hole thereof, vand a fastening-bolt eirterulingY through the namepla'te into theV back frameofthefpiano, to

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hold the. naine-plate in position and, through fame independently of the string-plate andy Io the naine-plate, to assist in holding the forclamping the name-plate against the string-plate in position. 'string-plate to assist in holding the latter in 3. In a piano, the combination Withthe place. frame 'of a string-plate vmeans for securing. f y, n the string-plate robo the iranie, a nalnefplette VILLIAM L' BJLL' seperate from the string-plate, and overlap- Witnesses: ping the string-plate at its upper edge, and l LoUIs GOLDMAN,

means for fastening the name-plate 'to the] y -FRANK PQEIsELE. 

